The Cooking and Cuisine of Lazio

[Kevin72]

Lamb prosciutto . . . numbers 1 and 3 on Kevin's List of Reasons He Could Never Be A Vegetarian.

I have GOT to try some, somehow.

[jmolinari]

Kevin, make it:) It is easy enough...follow directions in the charcuterie thread.. facile!

jason

[jmolinari]

Oh, a quick tip for people making carbonara. I've found that tempering the beaten egg/cheese with some pasta cooking water (about 1/4 to 1/3 cup per egg/person) makes the recipe easier, as the eggs won't scramble as easily.

i'll have to make carbonara this week and post it here!

jason

[FoodMan]

Lamb prosciutto . . . numbers 1 and 3 on Kevin's List of Reasons He Could Never Be A Vegetarian. 

I have GOT to try some, somehow.

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yeap, like Jason said..it is easy to make. Or you can visit me in Houston and try some when I make it.

[mrbigjas]

mrbijas- these sandwiches looked great. You definitly have to pour them flat and cut them with a cookie cutter for a more even shape and certainly drier polenta will produce better results. In any case you really made want to try them more. The batter looks pretty crisp though. Was it not? or was it just too light and not substantial? I might try breading them for the sake of experimentation when I do it.

yeah, i think next time i'm going to make the polenta drier to start with. i poured it into a loaf pan thinking i was going to do something else with it (namely, fried cornmeal mush, as we call it up here in yankee territory), but when this idea came up yesterday it seemed too good to pass up. so i sliced it, then used a biscuit cutter to make the rounds, but there was a lot left over, so i re-shaped and re-cut, and things got a little sloppy. not too bad though.

the thing about the batter is that since you're doing flour-egg-fry, all there really is to the coating is fried egg--the flour just helps it stick to the polenta. and it's hard to make just egg fry up crisp. what i might do next time is just take it one more step and do flour-egg-flour-fry, or even... hm.... since it's polenta anyway, how about flour-egg-cornmeal-fry? because the other thing is that since it's just dipped in egg, it's kinda oily--egg doesn't instantly harden and provide that barrier that a batter does when it hits the oil.

as a followup, contrary to common wisdom and like most battered-fried foods, these hold and reheat really well in an oven. in fact, i heated them for lunch today on a paper towel and some more oil seeped out of them and they got crisper and even better, i think.

[Pontormo]

As the tartars descended on the town of Vladimir in 1408 and black and white, I dined on the following:

Pollo in Padella, or a basic sautee of chicken seasoned with an abundance of minced rosemary, bay leaf, and some garlic and onion. I used a French white wine, but figured it was from Gaul. See Foodman's picture, only substitute thighs for his range of parts.

Concia di Zucchine which I prepared by salting and draining and drying them first, frying them until very golden, encircled with brown. This I do all the time, but not as Downie recommends with a generous splash of white wine vinegar and peperoncino; in this case, I used a bottle of Vietnamese chili garlic sauce, figuring all roads lead to Rome. The potatoes were simply boiled and smashed to soak up all the wonderful winey onion sauce and all that basil-flecked olive oil.

After witnessing the torture of his countrymen, pillaging, plunder, rape and spears thrust into the bodies of fallen horses, and as smoke rises among the ashes within the cathedral, Andrei Rublev has a vision and speaks to the painter, Theophales of long ago:

"How long will this go on?" he asks.

"Most likely, forever," is the reply as his vision lifts his hands to the frescoes that surround them.

"But look, look at all this! Isn't it beautiful?"

The actors spoke Russian, but it all seemed very Roman to me.

[Michael M]

Great thread.  I just breakfasted vicariously on everyone's meal pictures. 

I'd like to mention two Lazio wines I enjoyed on my recent trip, but the pictures/names are at home.  One was a bone dry, mineral Frascati that was recommended as a pairing with artichokes, favas and assorted fritti misti, although I don't know if it's available in the U.S., or as Brad said above, was better due to the surroundings.  The other was an interesting Lazio red, which for me meant I enjoyed it (hadn't met a red from the region I'd bother ordering again until this one).

I'll be back with their names tonight!

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Tonight, tomorrow, whatever. The wine is a blend (65 % Shyraz, 20% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petit Verdot) called I Quattro Mori from Castel de Paolis. I was really surprised by the layers and dusty/earthiness of this wine, given its region. I think it would go well with the foods I see here!

The Frascati I didn't take a picture of, unfortunately.

[mrbigjas]

the roman theme continued last night with bucatini all'amatriciana. why is that dish so damn good? it's only five ingredents (i use onions, guanciale, tomatoes and hot pepper, with pecorino).

[hathor]

I second Mrbigjas: amatriciana is soul food. Very satisfying. Did you make it with bucotini? That's a pasta I don't normally like, but it words with amatriciana.

Pontormo: great fusion Roman dinner! Indeed...all roads do lead to Rome! There is a classic road sign in Perugia that once caused an argument in our car.

Me: "Turn right, that way goes towards Rome."

Husband: "No, the sign to Rome says turn left."

We drive back to the sign, and there are two signs for Rome: one pointing right, one pointing left.

Didn't have my camera with me.

We make a variation on the zucchini dish a well...I like the idea of adding some pepperoncino.

Anyone else having trouble tracking down Lazio wines? I can probably find some Est!Est!!Est!!! but that doesn't really rock my boat...

Last night was saltimoboca....everyone else making it created an immense craving for the dish!

[mrbigjas]

i did use bucatini, or perciatelli, as dececco calls it. i don't know the difference, if there is indeed one at all. i have to admit that i think that wrestling with al dente bucatini is part of the fun of the dish, to tell the truth. i have made it with other pasta and it wasn't the same. i'm not much of a purist, but i know what i like.

as far as wine from lazio, since there's not much of it around that i notice (and since it's not a DOCG it's hard for me to tell what is what) the last two nights instead of frascati or whatever i drank.... i'm almost ashamed to admit it.... really cheap vinho verde.

now i'll tell one quick story from my visit to rome, which i have probably told before: we were in a place called da oio a casa, which is right on that main road leading into testacchio... via galvani? it's solid and delicious roman classics, inexpensive, with a heapin helping of offal available at any given time.

anyway, the staff was nice enough, but barely spoke english, and my italian is--well, calling it rudimentary would be a vast overstatement. so i had pasta e fagioli, which to this day is the best version of this i've ever had. and then a bowl of oxtails. now, i wasn't sure about roman manners, so i was picking away at my oxtails with a knife and fork, when the waitress came up to me and said OSSTALS... EETZ... WIDAAAANZA. i didn't understand. she repeated OSSTALS... EETZ... WIDAAANZA. after a third or fourth time, i realized she was saying that oxtails you eat with your hands.

ok that story is slightly funnier in person.

that was a great meal. as an aside, in that restaurant they had a clock on the wall, in the shape of a smiling chef. and on his hat was the clock, and it said specialità della casa on the clock.... and his pants were around his ankles, and his cock'n'balls were the pendulum for the clock. and i've been wishing for that clock to hang in my kitchen ever since. the end.

Edited April 14, 2006 by mrbigjas (log)

[NYC Mike]

Anyone else having trouble tracking down Lazio wines? I can probably find some Est!Est!!Est!!! but that doesn't really rock my boat...

I am having a time of it too but I did manage to find two frascati:

2004 Fontana Candida, Frascati $8

2004 Pietra Porzia, Regillo Frascati $10

I grabbed one of each, and will try them with my next carbonara (we found the guanciale, thanks Tupac). The place up by me also had the Montiano that Brad mentioned in his post, by me it was $48. We didn't go for that one, I am on a New Year's resolution not to pay more than $20 per bottle of wine this year which is working out surprising well so far.

I keep running across people who don't like artichokes and it boggles my mind.

I have a confession to make. Aside from the canned artichoke hearts one might see on a cold antipasti plate I have never eaten an artichoke. Based on the amazing pics of them here I think its time to remedy that! We picked up a pair of fresh ones today and will fry them up ala Nathan's post.

-Mike

PS. Great story Mr. Bigjas!

Edited April 14, 2006 by NYC Mike (log)

[Pontormo]

Yes, we're all getting a little punchy here in Rome, aren't we?

Funny story, too, Hathor!

I REALLY look forward to hearing all about your first time cooking and eating fresh artichokes, Mike! Most people go with steaming or boiling and dipping leaves in butter and lemon, or cold, garlic mayonnaise their first time and do little else. It's really a treat to hear that your virgin experience will be the Italian way...and all Giudia is perfect now that it's Passover.

Edited April 15, 2006 by Pontormo (log)

[mrbigjas]

Yes, we're all getting a little punchy here in Rome, aren't we?

we are!

i can't seem to stop myself this month though. tonight, i also made saltimboca. i made it with pork though.

i stopped by the always great dibruno bros for cacio di roma, but they only had a sicilian cacio--well, no problem, whatever, good enough for spaghetti cacio e pepe. this dish, despite its simplicity, isn't easy to make--it's hard to get the consistency right, so the cheese doesn't clump up (it did for me tonight). but like amatriciana, it's also one of those dishes that's more than the sum of its parts. it's just cheese and pepper and pasta with a little pasta water, after all. how does it end up so damn good?

i can't seem to bring myself to call them contorni, but vegetables were broccoli rabe sauteed with garlic and pepper, and i had some leftover grilled asparagus from the other night, so i turned it into asparagus al forno, from http://www.deliciousitaly.com/Laziorecipes.htm , which is a page i found on the web.

you know i know it sounds kinda lame, but kevin's project last year, and this topic so far this year have made me realize that you know, really every italian cookbook should have a regional recipe index. that would save me the trouble of reading the intro and description of every recipe, hoping that the author will mention where it's from...

Edited April 15, 2006 by mrbigjas (log)

[tupac17616]

Unfortunately I didn't have any bucatini (my favorite pasta...I love its toothsomeness) around tonight, but I did have some guanciale that had yet to be used. What better calling for that porky goodness than:

Spaghetti all'Amatriciana (before & after sprinkling of Pecorino Romano)

[hathor]

you know i know it sounds kinda lame, but kevin's project last year, and this topic so far this year have made me realize that you know, really every italian cookbook should have a regional recipe index.  that would save me the trouble of reading the intro and description of every recipe, hoping that the author will mention where it's from...

←

If the gods are listening... I second that emotion! You read a recipe and then have to interpret where the author came from so that you can figure out what his particular biases or influences are.... or whatever. ...I want an index. Italy is too 'new' of a unified country to just lump it all together.

(I love vino verdhe...its supposed to be cheap, and its all about spring and summer...stand tall drinking your vino verdhe!)

And why shouldn't we tell stories? Friends sitting around a table...discussing food and adventures. By the time we get to the south of Italy...we'll really be telling stories to each other!! Now I'll be on the lookout for a chef clock.

[Pontormo]

Along those lines, feeling similarly, I have a related problem more than a question. Background first.

One of my closest friends in high school was Jewish Italian-American, the daughter of a much older scholarly father and a very warm mother; her older sister went to the CIA after college and was a truly gifted cook. Her challah...! I was honored to be invited to Shabot dinners and therefore would like to make one Roman Jewish meal before the month is over.

My public library had one of the most highly recommended cookbooks, a compilation of all of Edda Servi Machlin's publications, Classic Italian Jewish Cooking, issued just last year.

There is no index for regions, though every once in a while there are references to Rome, for example, for the semolina gnocchi that Chufi mastered.

There are very interesting recipes for sfoglietti, a type of pasta that is made from special flour produced for Passover. Once the noodles are formed, they are baked to conform to kosher laws concerning leavening. I may try them, actually.

BUT the thing that I would like to know is why there are recipes for things that are familiar to us all, such as pesto, or salsa arrabbiata. I wish there was just a little more information about the origins of these dishes than is provided. Are they included in the book because Italian Jews are Italians and dishes overlap? Just how early did the cooking of Italian communities spill out of the ghetto? Is the symbiosis or exchange between mainstream Christian and Jewish culture so complex that it is impossible to tell?

It would be interesting to see if scholars of Jewish history have their own early Martino di Comos or anonymous authors of early cookbooks. The problem is that most of these dishes are what might be classified as home cooking as opposed to the stuff set out in banquets at powerful courts and therefore featured in the earliest cookbooks. If the diaries or account books of early Jewish families survive, there might be historical information there.

Postscript: This post is being edited because the cookbook does answer some of the questions, if briefly, and I suspect the author is more than capable of elaborating were there a long-standing tradition to integrate historical and cultural information into the prefaces of individual recipes.

Just one tidbit:

Fennel and eggplants were a part of Jewish diets before they were eaten by other Italians. Edda Servi Machlin cites Pellegrino Artusi's The Science and Art of Eating Well (1910) on the subject, i.e. a remark concerning the scarcity of either of these vegetables in the Florentine markets back in 1870s since "'...they were considered the vile foods of the Jews; the latter offering evidence here, as in more important issues, of having, better than Christians, a flair for discovering good things.'"

Edited April 16, 2006 by Pontormo (log)

[NYC Mike]

I can offically be included in the ranks of people who love artichokes. We had a few alla Giudia last night as our antipasti and they were amazing. They are a lot of work to eat but well worth it! Has anyone cut them open, maybe quartered and just fried the centers? I am thinking of doing that with the rest I have.

We also made the carbonara again for the children to share the fun with us. I agree with what's been said up thread, the guanciale was fun to track down and use for "authenticity" but I didn't taste a big difference over the pancetta. I don't think I would go through the trouble of sourcing it again just for this dish.

Lastly we made Veal Saltimbocca, we folded the veal similar to Kanljung's pics above. The results were amazing, and this dish and sauce ranks high on my favorite dish list. If carbonara is comfort food, this dish is luxury!

We had the meal with the 2004 Pietra Porzia, Regillo Frascati. It was passable with the meal, I didn't think the acidity cut through the carbonara enough and the fruit seemed muted and flat. I think it might go well with some cheese and fruit or a light salad, we are going to try the other bottle that way.

-Mike

[Kevin72]

Friday night's meal:

We started with a plate of fritto misto di verdure, a "mixed fry" of vegetables. I used zucchini, onion quarters, eggplant, (frozen) artichokes, and broccoli. The batter was soda water, then equal parts corn starch and AP flour, another Mario recommendation: the corn starch makes for a crisper crust. I agree.

In another odd instance of synchronicity, I, too, have been drinking alot of vinho verde (leftover from a tapas party) lately, and here, the slightly fizzy wine went very well with the fried veggies.

Then we had a modification of a dish from Downie's cookbook, pasta with ricotta and asparagus. In my version I used homemade papardelle and I mix basil in with the ricotta to give it a more herbal note. This is supposedly a dish served on or near Easter:

The sauce was a little out of hand, I think.

Easter Sunday's meal. Err, not necessarily Roman, and only one of the dishes is a strictly "traditional" Easter item, so it doesn't exactly belong on the Easter thread, either.

We started with prosciutto and cheese-wrapped asparagus:

(I had forgotten to take a pic until all but one were left!)

Then, the only "true" Easter item of the night, torta pasqualina from Liguria:

This is a tart stuffed with ricotta, eggs, spinach, parmigiano, pecorino, and salami.

For the main, porchetta, a Central Italian favorite:

This is from Batali's older shows where he made porchetta with a pork loin, then stuffed it with sauteed fennel and sausage. Adam is probably out of his mind right now: another porchetta without that glorious, burnished crackling.

Anyways, yeah, I overcooked it a little , and either they had mis-labeled the sausage at Central Market or the butcher gave me the wrong kind; I had wanted their black pepper version but the one I got had cumin in it instead .

The contorno was the Umbrian version of scafata: a mixture of spring vegetables (peas, edamame, and escarole) stewed with onions, bacon, chilies, and tomato sauce.

As with last year, as a substitute for guanciale I went out and bought a slab of bacon, blanched it, then rubbed it with sugar, black pepper, rosemary, and juniper berries and have it sitting in my fridge.

Dessert was strawberry tiramisu from Downie's cookbook:

[Kevin72]

Yesss, another artichoke convert! Glad you liked 'em, Mike!

So, now the collective thread interest seems to have turned to Amatriciani, I see.

Interestingly, when we were in Rome, all the places we saw that offered it served it over penne, ziti, or even rigatoni.

It's one of my other top pasta dishes. I think it's the endorphin-releasing combo of pork fat, tomatoes, spicy, and cheese all bound up together in a big ol' plate of Good. Definitely on my "to make" list this month.

[Pontormo]

Mike, I too am happy for you and your family.

Kevin, I will try your method for making bacon into a type of guanciale. Sounds like a good idea.

I'll add a short report on Fettuccine alla Romana, a very rich dish that I was surprised is associated with Easter and the following Monday, or Angel's Day, some time soon.

However, I'll take advantage of what seems to be a breach in regional authencity to report on the following:

I mentioned preparing fried zucchini coins, Roman style, according to David Downie's recommendations. I loved the addition of white wine vinegar and red chili pepper flakes and look forward to our journeys to regions that prepare hot, spicy foods even though I'd stop well before Mario Batali's threshold.

One of the reasons I chose to drain the zucchini first is that I prepared several pounds to reuse them. Saturday, I incorporated them into a frittata with some of the Cacio di Roma in the fridge as well as plenty of scallions, some Locatelli and Parm Reggiano. I wish I had looked again at Downie since his frittata recipe includes fresh mint which would have been a welcome change. I love zucchini, that is the small, dark green ones available now, and all the interesting globual and pale green variaties that local farmers will be selling in the market come summer time. I don't quite understand all the jokes about gardeners sneaking zucchini onto porches of unsuspecting neighbors, except for the fact that overgrown, pulpy squash are not all that tempting.

Elie inspired me to buy Romaine lettuce to use for an accompanying salad. In turn, a question posed to Brad Billlinger encouraged me to continue to drink Tuscan wines instead of bothering to seek out anything new from Lazio in the remaining two weeks.

I have to admit, rather guiltily, that the very best use of these Roman coins was impromptu Tex-Mex I cooked a thick strip of bacon and then warmed up a wedge of the frittata in the bacon fat. I tucked these into a warmed flour tortilla which happily accepted grated Cacio di Roma while in the cast iron skillet. Mixed chives into sour cream. Poured on a little smoky salsa and folded it over. It was incredible I promise my next post will be strictly orthodox.

Edited April 17, 2006 by Pontormo (log)

[NYC Mike]

I have to admit, rather guiltily, that the very best use of these Roman coins was impromptu Tex-Mex  I cooked a thick strip of bacon and then warmed up a wedge of the frittata in the bacon fat. I tucked these into a warmed flour tortilla which happily accepted grated Cacio di Roma while in the cast iron skillet. Mixed chives into sour cream. Poured on a little smoky salsa and folded it over.  It was incredible  I promise my next post will be strictly orthodox.

Wow! That sounds almost obscene! To heck with conventions if it tastes good!

and I think Kevin just sold me that Downie cookbook.

I had that second bottle of Frascati with a wedge of cacio de roma and a sliced pear and green apple, it was a pretty good "g&t time" snack. I was surprised that the cheese did not get a mention in Steve Jenkins' Cheese Primer, Southern Italy in general doesn't get much coverage . Can someone call out, or point me in the direction of other cheese from Lazio? The cacio was exceptional.

-Mike

[Pontormo]

Mike: Look up thread a bit for references to cheeses from Lazio. I posted a few and I am pretty sure a link was added.

Of course, living where you do, you have access to the best sources of an education; I am sure cheesemongers will be willing to help you out. When you pick up a copy of Downie's book--which is the source of most of the things I've been making too--look in the back for businesses he recommends.

Of course, Sardinia produces many great sheep-milk cheeses, but Pecorino Romano is from Lazio; I am partial to Locatelli, but they're all good.

* * *

Fettuccine alla Romana is the dish I prepared for Easter, primarily because it is the closest I could find to a Roman ragu. Since I do not celebrate Easter and because it is an extremely substantial--and costly--dish, I considered it my primo and secondo.

Downie provides a great deal of information in one of his most in-depth recipes, mentioning that because the sauce is time-consuming, it is not often found on menus even though it does remain traditional in Roman homes for both Sunday or the day after Easter. I suspect there are other reasons for its lack of currency, especially since it is such a robust heavy primo that speaks more of a chill in the air than budding trees and twittering birds. Also, he notes that recipes change over time; once chicken livers dominated and now they're only one of FIVE meats. To me, that speaks more of Fellini's Satyricon than even the joys of ending the penitence of Lent, so I cut the list to three. Chicken livers would have added a substantial depth to the sauce, but they're not a favorite, I confess.

The tomato sauce requires a more generous amount of celery, carrots and onion than other ragus, garlic, then pork sausage, beef short ribs and ground pork (and beef, which I omitted, merely upping the quantity of short ribs). Red wine is used instead of white, then pre-soaked porcini plus their liquid (chicken livers should be added here). Lots of tomatoes are added and the sauce is left to cook for around two hours. Pecorino Romano is mixed with Parm Reggiano.

Yesterday, I ate it with dried pasta and then had a wonderful fresh salad of baby organic greens from the farmers's market--my first visit since Thanksgiving and surrogate for church. Cara-Cara oranges were tossed in along with plenty of snipped chives.

In between, I actually ate the short ribs on their own with some of the sauce and cheese since both were delicious. Downie recommends removing the meat completely from the bones, mincing it and tossing the bones. Instead, I left a little meat on them and browned them for a long period of time, leaving them in the pot to enhance the flavor as the tomatoes simmered. Thus, I sort of had a secondo if a redundant one.

Dessert was a Macedonia di Frutta whose flavors had been merging for hours and hours.

As wonderful as it was, the sauce was much, much better today on fresh fettuccine.

Edited April 18, 2006 by Pontormo (log)

[Kevin72]

Sounds like a great meal, Pontormo. I contemplated trying to fit the fettuccine alla Romana somewhere but then it fell by the wayside. Glad someone made it.

[Kevin72]

Monday's meal:

Spaghetti cacio e pepe

Guess I must've sounded too smug when someone asked about difficulties in making this earlier on in the thread. A good portion of the cheese and pepper promptly fused to the bottom and sides of the pasta pot whle tossing it.

We followed with abacchio en brodeto, an Easter Monday tradtional dish in Rome. Lamb (perhaps leftover from Easter meal the day before) is braised in white wine, herbs, and aromatics, then removed from the liquid. The pan juices are then mixed, off the heat, with eggs, cheese, and mint, and their residual juices "cook" the eggs and form a custard-like sauce:

Normally Easter Monday is a picnic day, and we were planning a meal on the patio, but it was ninety-goddamned-nine degrees outside. This summer is going to SUCK.

[FoodMan]

Lazio/rome thread really kicks butt. I love everyone's meals. Pontormo, that ragu sounds divine. Kevin's lamb looks fantastic as well.

My Sunday Roman meal consisted of:

- Olives in tomato sauce. I am not sure if this is Roman or not, Mario does not specify in his intro. It seemed to me that it belongs right at home in a Roman Trattoria though. I served it with a sliced fennel bulb dressed with some olive oil and salt and pepper. Plates like that really showcase what I love about Italian food. So easy, so simple and utterly addictivly delicious! I pretty much at this whole plate while finishing up the cooking since my wife and olives do not get along too well

- Rigatoni (no bucatini to be found anywhere) al Amatriciana with homecured pancetta...so many of you made this dish, do I need to say more?

- Langue Agro Dolce, sweet and sour veal tongue. One of the websites on Lazio named this as a Roman dish and Mario has a recipe for it in Molto Italiano. I made beef tongue back when we were in Piedmont, remember? This was much better. Tangy sweet with cipolline onions, tomato sauce and carrots.

- Dolce was Profiterolls (pate a choux buns) filled with coffee mousse. I actually forgot to take a picture of these beauties. They were very good. Are they Roman though?